


Flowers And Ghosts

by spellboundnora



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, David knows about Jasper's death au, Featuring unnecessary details that maybe i should've deleted but i didn't, Gwen never goes to work at the camp though, Jasper is still dead in this au, NOT A PART OF THE SNAPSHOTS SERIES, Or maybe you can just think of this as how David meets her and convinces her to work at camp, Tumblr Prompt, it doesn't have to be an au if you get literally no canon info about their pasts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 22:44:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16504202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spellboundnora/pseuds/spellboundnora
Summary: Prompt: “Sometimes I steal flowers from your garden on my way to the cemetery, but today you’ve caught me and have demanded to come with me to make sure the “girl is pretty enough to warrant flower theft” and I’m trying to figure out how to break it to you that we’re on our way to a graveyard.”David thought the house at the end of his block was abandoned, or at least that no one was currently living there. And it had the prettiest flowers, ones that always reminded him of his lost best friend. So maybe it was technically stealing to take a handful on his trips to the graveyard, but as long as no one noticed, he'd be fine, right?





	Flowers And Ghosts

There was an abandoned house on the end of David’s block. At least, it looked abandoned. There was paint peeling off of the siding, and the house itself looked like it was about to fall down. He’d lived in this neighborhood for three months, and had never seen a car in the driveway, or anyone come into or go out of the house. But the garden in front was beautiful. It was completely overgrown and covered in weeds, but it was also full of the most beautiful yellow and purple pansies. So after a few weeks of living on the block, and realizing no one lived there, he started taking a few of them. Just seeing if he could get away with it. And when no one stopped him, he started to pick entire bouquets. But he didn’t take them for himself. David took them because they reminded him of his best friend. Jasper, the first person to ever understand him. His first true best friend, and his last. He’d died in a freak accident when the two of them were eleven. And so every Saturday, David would visit him at the cemetery in Sleepy Peak, the small town where they’d both lived as kids. It was about a twenty-minute drive, but it was worth it. David supposed he still felt guilty about his friend’s death. While he knew he hadn’t directly caused it, the two of them had had a huge fight right before the accident, and David never got to tell Jasper that he was sorry for the things he’d said. So this was his way of apologizing to him, stealing him some flowers and bringing a picnic to his grave every week. David knew he could’ve bought flowers, and occasionally felt a little bad for stealing them, but he loved the flowers from the abandoned house because of how the colors reminded him of his childhood friend: yellow in the center for their matching camp shirts, ringed by purple for his favorite flannel that he’d always wear under it, even in the hottest weather. David almost felt like those flowers in the garden of the abandoned house was some kind of sign from him, that even when he moved out of Sleepy Peak and into a larger town for college, that Jasper was still there, watching over him. Well, he’d thought they were a sign until one fateful morning.

It was a normal Saturday morning, David had just finished packing his picnic into the trunk of his car and was about to walk over to the abandoned house to get some flowers, and then was going to drive to the cemetery and spread out his picnic, talking to Jasper about everything that had happened in his week. Then he would leave the flowers at his grave, pack up his things, go home, and work on schoolwork, or fill out job applications. David worked as a camp counselor at the same camp where he’d met Jasper in the summer, but finding work during the school year was more difficult, especially as all of the places where he managed to get some work would let him go instead of rehiring after the summer ended. Occasionally he’d think of quitting the camp, but in the end, he just couldn’t. The place meant too much to him, and he loved working with the kids. Part of him also knew that the place was so rundown, that if he quit, it would probably shut down, and he just couldn’t have that on his conscience. So it was better to have to look for work every fall than to have Camp Campbell shut down.

He reached the abandoned house, looked around to make sure no one was walking down the sidewalk, even though he knew no one in the neighborhood really cared, and started gathering flowers. And that was when he heard the door swing open. He jumped back, flowers falling out of his hands, and was shocked to see a woman about his age on the doorstep.

“So it’s you who’s been stealing my flowers!”

“I’m so sorry, I honestly thought no one lived here! I’ll pay you back for the flowers I’ve stolen, just please don’t call the police!”

She sighed, looking at him for a second as if she was deciding what to do with him.

“No, you know what? This garden is so overgrown, I’m not surprised you thought this place was abandoned. I’m usually never here because I work two jobs, so I’m out of the house from really early in the morning until after dark, but I just got fired by my morning job because they didn’t want me working a second job a few days ago, so I’ve been home in the mornings for the first time in months. I haven’t had any time to look after these flowers since I’m always working and taking online classes, but I would occasionally notice that bunches were gone in the morning when I’d leave. I figured I’d never find the person doing it, plus it was never enough flowers to make much of a difference, so I let it go. I’m not even going to make you pay me back for them, because who cares, they’re just flowers. But I do want to come with you to see what girl is pretty enough to warrant repeated flower theft for the past few months.”

David stared at her in shock. He really wasn’t expecting her to demand an explanation, and he didn’t know how to explain to her that it wasn’t a romantic thing.

“Well, it’s, um, not really, a girl.”

“Or guy, I don’t give a shit. Come on, let’s get on with this.”

He decided to explain it to her in the car and picked up the flowers he’d dropped on the ground.

“Okay, I live down the block, so I usually just walk over.”

The two of them walked back to David’s house in silence, his in complete anxiety, and hers in curiosity. They reached his place and David got into the driver’s seat of his old, beat up car, unlocking the passenger side door for her.

“So, what’s your name? I figure we can at least get to know each other a little bit, since we’re neighbors and all, even though this isn’t the way neighbors usually meet.”

She chuckled a bit at that, as he stammered out a response.

“I’m David. What about you?”

“Gwen. So, what do you do around here?”

The car ride seemed to go quicker than usual, as the two of them made small talk. He expected it to be incredibly awkward, but Gwen was easy to talk to. David told her about how he was going to school to become a park ranger, and she told him about her psychology and liberal arts degrees that had proved completely useless, so she was trying some more science related things. She liked them, but science was never her dream, like being a psychologist was. But, as she told him, it paid better money than working retail and food service, and probably included fewer people trying to fuck you over. He talked to her about not being able to find a steady job during the school year because of the camp he worked at during the summer but just couldn’t quit. She seemed sympathetic, and they spent the ride talking about all sorts of things, for music, to relationships, to TV shows, to fashion, to kids. David didn’t even have the chance to bring up where they were going until he realized that they were almost to the cemetery.

“Gwen, I have to confess something. This whole flower thing, it isn’t what you think it is.”

“What do you mean? Why else would you steal flowers if not for yourself or to impress someone romantically?”

“It isn’t a romantic thing. These flowers remind me of my best friend, Jasper, so I’d always bring some to him and have a picnic with him every Saturday.”

“So? I don’t really care if it’s a romantic thing or not. Honestly, I came up with this whole thing on the spot, because I really needed to get out of the house, and didn’t want to punish you too much, because I was sure you had a good reason. You’re the first person I’ve talked to that wasn’t a customer or a coworker in way too long. I know, it’s kinda lame, but I’d noticed you occasionally at your house when I’d come home from work, and you looked like someone I’d want to get to know. And now that we’ve been talking, you seem like a really cool dude. So if you’re just dragging me along to hang out with one of your friends, I don’t mind.”

“Well, it’s not really that, either.”

And before he could explain any further, David saw the sign for the cemetery and pulled in to the parking lot.

“Jasper’s not alive.”

Her eyes widened as she noticed the sign.

“Oh.”

He shut off the car and just sat there for a minute, the bouquet of stolen pansies in his lap. He glanced over to the passenger seat, and Gwen looked like she was about to cry.

“Hey, it’s okay, you couldn’t have known-”

“Shit, man, I’m so sorry. Now I feel really bad for making you do this. No wonder you were so nervous when I brought it up. You don’t have to do this, you can just take me home and come back.”

“No, it’s alright. I don’t think he’ll mind. Plus, I already said I have a picnic packed, maybe it would be fun to share it with you, instead of just eating it myself and talking to a ghost.”

“Are you sure? If you want to bring me back, it’s okay with me. I don’t want to feel like I’m intruding on something.”

“I said I’d take you to the boy who I’ve been stealing flowers for, didn’t I? And even if it’s only in spirit, pun intended, I’ll still try to introduce the two of you to each other.”

Gwen giggled a little at David’s well-placed ghost pun.

“If you say so. I’ve never really done this before, my family was never big on spiritual stuff.”

“Neither was mine. But with Jasper, it was different. I just felt like I owed him this. Come on, I’m starving. Let me grab the picnic basket out of the back and we can head over.”

He got out of the car and proceeded to the trunk to fetch the basket he’d brought. Gwen got out and stood nervously by the car. He shot her a smile, waving her over, and the two of them started towards the cemetery. David knew exactly where Jasper’s grave was after all this time of picnicking with him, and they walked in silence through the empty graveyard until they reached it. David laid the flowers down next to his old friend’s headstone, and unfolded the picnic blanket while Gwen stood awkwardly.

“Holy shit, 2005? He was only a kid!” She whispered in shock after reading the headstone.

“We were both eleven when it happened.” He replied, sitting down on the blanket and motioning her to join him. She did, and David greeted Jasper, and told him that he’d brought a friend. He told Gwen the story of the accident, and how good of friends they’d been. She even addressed him directly a few times, and as they ate and talked, Gwen and David got to know each other better. By the time all of the food had been eaten, they were like three old friends joking together, except one of the friends only listened without responding. David thought about how nice it was to have someone to talk to besides Jasper, it was too easy to get lost in things he didn’t want to think about when it was just the two of them. After an hour or two, he suggested they pack up. As they put the last of the food in the basket and folded up the blanket, David and Gwen said goodbye to Jasper and walked back to the car.

“You know, I was really nervous about how that was going to go down, but it was pretty fun. I’ve never really been to a graveyard except for at a few funerals.”

“Yeah, my weekly chats with Jasper are always really relaxing for me. It’s nice to be able to get everything off of your mind without worrying about being judged by anyone, while still feeling like you’re talking it out.”

“When you put it that way, it sounds perfect. Like a therapist, but free.”

David giggled at that one. It kind of was, when he thought about it.

“You’re right! My therapist is an eleven-year-old ghost who never gives me actual advice, just lets me talk things out and lets me come to my own conclusions.”

“Hey, that wouldn’t be the worst therapist I’ve had.”

For some reason, that made both of them burst out laughing, and once they reached the car, they just sat in it for a minute, laughing about nothing, about everything, about life, and about death, about how two people’s lives can intersect in such strange ways. The car was full of life as he drove them home, and once they got to Gwen’s place, David really didn’t want her to leave, but before he could say anything, she showed him that she felt the same.

“Hey, do you want to exchange numbers? Maybe hang out some other time without me having to catch you stealing flowers?”

“That sounds like a great idea!”

She gave him her number and he sent her a quick text, just a yellow flower emoji, which made her roll her eyes.

“Well, I have to go get ready for the hell that is working retail. See you later, David!”

“See ya, Gwen!”

She flashed him a big smile as she got out of the car and headed up to her place. David drove the rest of the way home, feeling happier than he had in a long while. Maybe the flowers really were a sign, but more of one telling him to start moving on with his life. Maybe this was Jasper’s way of telling him that he could have a new best friend, and that he wouldn’t be replacing his old one. David liked to think that it was.


End file.
